


Side One

by bethejerktomybitch



Series: Georgia on my Mind [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Blink and you'll miss it, F/M, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Interrogation, Original Percival Graves is a gentleman, Pre-Relationship, Unacknowledged Chemistry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 18:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18857065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethejerktomybitch/pseuds/bethejerktomybitch
Summary: The first time Percival Graves arrested Georgia Kingsley, he had recently come back from the war to his position as Chief of Aurors, she had recently been orphaned by that very same war, and he tried his hardest not to like her.The last time Percival Graves arrested Georgia Kingsley, he was the head of the DMLE, she was the one he’d never been able to catch, and he was playing a losing game.





	Side One

**Author's Note:**

> This little one-shot takes places before the main story "I Will Show You Love", but it can be read perfectly well on its own too. Leave kudos or a comment if you like it.

_This is side one_

_Flip me over_

_I know I'm not your favorite record_

_The songs you grow to like never stick at first_

 

_Fall Out Boy - Dead on Arrival_

**1919**

Percival was the youngest Chief of Aurors MACUSA had ever had. He would have been youngest department head, too, if he hadn’t spent a year in Europe fighting alongside no-majs in the trenches. Either way, he was as skilled an auror as they came, well-versed in every single aspect of the job, from brute-force dueling all the way to careful, probing interrogations.

 

And yet he was currently standing in front of a one-way mirror, and didn’t quite know what to think.

 

The woman on the other side of the glass in the interrogation room was humming under her breath, seeming utterly unperturbed by the fact that he had just arrested her under suspicion of trespassing and grand larceny.  In fact, she seemed almost like she was enjoying this, and Percival felt a prickle of annoyance at the back of his neck.

 

She raised her gaze from the table in front of her abruptly, and for a moment Percival felt as if she was meeting his eyes through the one-way mirror, though of course that was impossible. “Is anyone going to come interrogate me or what?” she said. “I don’t have all day.”

 

Next to Percival, Saunders gave a derisive snort. “Does she think we’re just going to let her go again?” he asked.

 

Percival shot him a sharp glance. “We’re going to have to, if we don’t get her to slip up in interrogation.” he said. “Everything we have on her is circumstantial at best, and I think she’s smart enough to know that.”

 

Saunders shrugged. “Sure, Chief, but from where I’m standing there’s no way she’s not going to break. She’s what, twenty, twenty-two?”

 

“Twenty-five.” Percival corrected absentmindedly. He had spent the last hour learning as much about Georgia Kingsley as he possibly could; in an interrogation every bit of knowledge could make the difference between success and failure.

 

“Right.” said Saunders. “Personally, I think she’s just some rich kid who got bored. They always let something slip eventually. Can’t resist the urge to show off.”

 

“Maybe.” Percival said, though he had the feeling that Georgia Kingsley wouldn’t be quite as easy to crack as his fellow auror believed. He squared his shoulders. “I’m going in.” he said.

 

Saunder perked up. “Want me to come, Chief?”

 

Percival shook his hand. “No, I think I’ll handle this one on my own.” he said. “You’re welcome to stay and watch, though.” Ignoring the look of disappointment on Saunders’ face, he opened the door to the interrogation room and stepped inside.

 

Georgia Kingsley looked up when he entered, meeting him with a wide grin. “Hello again.” she said. “Graves, wasn’t it? Might a girl possibly get a glass of water in here?”

 

Percival sat down across from her, careful to keep his face blank. “Of course, Miss Kingsley.” he said politely. “But we’re going to have to clear up some things first.”

 

She sighed dramatically. “Right. That ridiculous accusation of me having stolen the ambassador’s priceless copy of Ptolemy’s _On the Magic of Planets_.”

 

He leant back in his chair slightly, watching her intently. “Well, did you?”

 

Kingsley snorted in amusement. “You get straight to the point, don’t you?”

 

Percival only looked at her with raised eyebrows, and she sighed again. “Of course I didn’t.” she said. “I don’t know why anyone would ever suspect such a thing.”

 

“There are plenty of reasons we suspect you, Miss Kingsley.” said Percival lightly, as if he was just making conversation. “First off, only a handful of people knew that the ambassador had even brought the book with him to New York, and you were one of them. He told you about it a week before it was stolen.”

 

She shrugged. “I’m sure he told plenty of people that night.” she said with a smirk. “The ambassador wasn’t skimping on the firewhiskey, you see.”

 

“Right.” Percival said dryly. “But you were also seen in the ambassador’s hotel on two occasions in the week leading up to the theft.”

 

Kingsley didn’t seem bothered by that at all, the perfect picture of innocence with blond curls and wide blue eyes. “Well, Mr. Graves, I’m rather fond of the Astor’s rooftop garden. Have you ever been? You can see a fair bit of the city from there. Makes you feel almost like you’re flying.”

 

Ignoring her question, Percival said: “Even if I believed you were only there for the garden, there still remains the fact that a charm you developed during your time at Ilvermorny was used to circumvent the ambassador’s wards. Very few people have the skill to perform that charm effectively.”

 

She smiled. “While I’m flattered by your assessment of my skills, that charm isn’t as difficult to master as you might believe. I wrote two publications on it; they are freely accessible. Anyone could learn it from them, really. Its use is hardly evidence of my involvement.”

 

Unfortunately, she was completely right. Nothing they had on her would ever stand up in court, not unless Percival could get her to give him something. He sat up straighter, folding his hands on top of the table. “See, Miss Kingsley, I’m not actually in here because I want to debate your guilt.” he said. “I’m quite convinced that you did exactly what you’re suspected of. What really interests is me is why you did it.”

 

Kingsley raised one eyebrow. “Oh?” she said simply.

 

“Obviously money is not an issue.” said Percival, continuing as if she hadn’t spoken. “You’re from a rich family and Kingsley Potioneering is still doing well under your uncle’s leadership. So what is it? Do you like the thrill? Are you bored? Or is this about the ambassador personally?”

 

The flicker of something he’d hoped to see in her face never came. Instead she only looked amused. “If I’d really done what you think I have done, do you think I would answer that question?” she asked.

 

“Actually, I do.” Percival said slowly. “Do you want to know why?”

 

Her eyebrows rose even higher. “Do enlighten me.”

 

He considered his next words carefully, determined to turn this interrogation into a successful arrest. “I think you’re lonely, Miss Kingsley.” he said “Your parents just died, you don’t have any siblings and all of your schoolmates from Ilvermorny have either moved away or are working for MACUSA. I think you stole the book knowing full well we would catch you, because all you really want is some attention.”

 

Percival leant back, never taking his eyes off her. “And I think that’s why you’re going to talk to me too, Georgia.” he said softly, deliberately using her first name. “Because you’re lonely, and you desperately want someone to listen to you.”

 

For a moment he thought he had her. Her eyes were wide and she looked very young, very vulnerable, her mouth slightly opened as if she was on the verge of speaking. Then something descended over her face, she gave him a tight-lipped smile and he knew he had lost.

 

“That’s a lovely theory, Mr. Graves.” she said. “Unfortunately it banks completely on the assumption that I robbed the ambassador at all, which I’ve told you before I haven’t.”

 

She sat up straighter. “Now, if that’s all the questions you have for me, am I allowed to leave?”

 

Percival sighed and waited for the sinking feeling of a failed interrogation that didn’t come. Maybe it was the fact that she reminded him inexplicably of himself when he’d been younger or maybe it was something else, but somehow he found himself minding far too little that she would go free.

 

“Very well.” he said. “You’re free to go, Miss Kingsley. But stay in the city in case we have any more questions.”

 

She stood up and gave him a blinding smile. “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else.”

 

* * *

 

**1926**

Georgia Kingsley met him with a wide grin when he opened the door to the interrogation room. “Graves!” she said, seeming genuinely happy to see him. “I was wondering when you were going to show up. Those junior aurors you had bring me in were really terribly rude.”

 

Percival settled into the chair opposite of her with a sigh, fighting to hide his amusement for a moment. “The ambassador again? Really, Miss Kingsley?” he asked.

 

She batted her eyes in an almost comical impression of innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she said. “I met the ambassador only once, years ago, and we barely talked to each other then.”

 

He resisted the urge to smooth his hair back. “Sure you did.” he said dryly. “And I’m sure it’s a coincidence that the theft happened almost the exact same way as seven years ago.”

 

Kingsley grinned. “You’d think the ambassador would reconsider his security measures.” she said. “Seems awfully sloppy, to be robbed the same way twice.”

 

“So you were trying to what, teach him a lesson in cautiousness?”

 

“I wasn’t trying to do anything.” she said smoothly. “I never came near the ambassador. But I imagine the thief would have something like that in mind, yeah.”

 

Percival leant back in his chair, sighing. In all honesty, he wasn’t expecting a confession or even a tiny slip-up at this point; Kingsley was way too good for that. They didn’t even have circumstantial evidence tying her to the theft this time; the only reason they’d brought her in was that it had been startlingly similar to all the other thefts she’d been suspected off. And, well, the only reason he was talking to her was that she made for a much more pleasant conversation partner than the thugs and blood purists he usually interrogated.

 

“Why would the thief take such an interest in the ambassador?” he asked.

 

Kingsley cleared her throat. “This is all purely hypothetical, naturally.” she said. “But the ambassador is not a particularly pleasant man, from what I’ve seen of him. Brash, abrasive, terribly full of himself, very disrespectful of women, especially when he’s drunk. If I were the thief that would be enough to breed my dislike of him.”

 

She wasn’t wrong, Percival thought. The ambassador was a man not really suitable for a diplomatic position and known to be a heavy drinker; once, roaring drunk on firewhiskey, he had even acted inappropriately towards the president herself, an incident that Percival hadn’t been present for but had been told about multiple times. A part of him couldn’t help but think that the ambassador deserved to be a bit humbled.

 

He couldn’t say that aloud, of course. Instead, he said mildly: “There are many men like that in New York. Why the ambassador specifically?”

 

Kingsley shrugged. “You’re right, there are many assholes, but not all that many rich assholes. This thief of yours has to make money somewhere, right?”

 

Percival had known her for seven years now; he saw the lie immediately. She was rich, she didn’t need the money, but he was sure that there was some other reason she had targeted the ambassador personally. “I don’t think that’s the whole reason.” he said softly.

 

For a moment Kingsley was silent. There was a softness in her face that he’d rarely seen there before; it made her look much younger than her thirty-two years. Finally, she said very slowly: “It wouldn’t be far-fetched to imagine that the ambassador made unwanted advances towards the thief without knowing who he was talking to. He might have gone too far, and the thief might have decided to teach him a lesson.”

 

She gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Still hypothetically, of course.” she added.

 

“Of course.” Percival echoed. He felt an unreasonable amount of anger and for a moment he wanted to head to the ambassador’s hotel and teach him a lesson of his own; it took quite a bit of self-control to wrangle that urge down. It also took some self-control not to think about where that urge was even coming from.

 

He took a breath and straightened. “Well, Miss Kingsley, unless there’s something else you have to say, you’re free to go.” he said. “You know the drill; don’t leave the city for a while.”

 

Kingsley got to her feet, perfect mask of composure back in place, and held out her hand. “I will.” she said. “A pleasure as always, Mr. Graves.”

 

He shook her hand and then, out of an impulse he couldn’t quite place, he said so quietly no one but her could hear him: “I suppose the ambassador got what he deserved.”

 

She looked surprised for the briefest moment before she smiled, a real smile that had a peculiar effect on Percival’s heart; he felt it miss a few beats.

 

“Yes.” she said. “I suppose so.”

 

* * *

 

The next time, it was Grindelwald.


End file.
